Low mileage car

Joshuahudson22

Looking for some opinions!

I'm looking at buying a BMW 2 series and have seen one which has everything I want and more but is very low mileage. It is a 2016 plate but has only 2700 miles on the clock. The chap who had it stored it in a garage but spent a lot of time abroad so went through stages of being sat for a while. Doing some reading it seems there are potential issues with corrosion, tires, rubber seals damage etc with low mileage cars. Is this still an issue for more modern cars? Should I steer clear or make the most of the like new condition! 

tacpot12

I think you should snap it up. As it has been in a garage, and not been exposed to much road salt, it should suffer relatively little corrosion. The rubber seals have probably survived well enough as the car has been used a bit. If the car had be laid up and never driven, I would be concerned, but a litle bit of driving every six months or so would refresh the seals. Tyres are a consumable anyway, and unless the tyres have been allowed to go completely flat, I would not expect them to be compromised is any way. 

Ibrahim5

I looked at a very low mileage 3 year old car recently. Top price. The discs were solid rust. It had failed MOT on CV boot which was badly repaired. It mainly looked brand new but was wet inside and I am sure the upholstery covered in fungus would put most people off. At a large car supermarket. Looked like no-one could be bothered cleaning it so keep reducing price until someone bites. I steered clear. Better have a car that's been used normally.

onejontwo

The consensus seems to be not to buy a very low mileage car, however I disagree, for example I have looked after my wife's vauxhall corsa car from when she purchased it in 2010, 11 years later and with around 27k miles on the clock (so around 2.5k per year) it runs and drives like new! If this had average 10k per year mileage it would be 110k on the clock and for this model the timing chain would have snapped or be rattling away. Also the suspension would have a lot more wear and tear. Apart from a new battery and a new tyre (because of a nail in the sidewall) it has been very cheap motoring. So in my opinion if it has been looked after there is no reason why you shouldn't buy a very low mileage car.

Joshuahudson22

Thanks for your opinions. I guess a few small things needing replacing isn’t the end of the world and would be worth it in the long run for the car you get 

Grumpy_chap

Joshuahudson22 said:

Looking for some opinions!

I'm looking at buying a BMW 2 series and have seen one which has everything I want and more but is very low mileage. It is a 2016 plate but has only 2700 miles on the clock. The chap who had it stored it in a garage but spent a lot of time abroad so went through stages of being sat for a while. Doing some reading it seems there are potential issues with corrosion, tires, rubber seals damage etc with low mileage cars. Is this still an issue for more modern cars? Should I steer clear or make the most of the like new condition! 

If the price is fair - I'd buy it.

If they are asking silly OTT money because of the low mileage, it is not worth it.

Ectophile

If you bought a hige mileage 2016 car, there would be things that needed replacing because they were worn out.  Buy a low mileage one, and there are things that need replacing because they have been sat too long.  Many of those things will be the same.

If it looks good, and hasn't gone mouldy, then I don't see any reason not to buy it.  Then take it to a BMW specialist, and give it a full service.

utopia55

Unless it’s a straight inline 6 engine like the M240i, or the M2/M2 Competition you’re wasting your money. 

utopia55

My M4C has mixed matched budget tyres, I use Asda supermarket fuel and overall not that bad to run

mgfvvc

I bought an ex-Motability Ford with less than 2,000 miles at 3.5 years old. I've not had major issues with it. The brake disc life was quite short and I wasn't happy with the air con, but even after having it serviced that has never been great.

knightstyle

As above I have bought a couple of low milage ex-motability cars in the past and never had any problems with them. Our current Cmax was 3 years old with 11k on it and now has over 80k and going well.